U.S. Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham said she is “angry” over the behavioral health crisis, a day after the Attorney General released a report clearing ten more providers.

Official photo of U.S. Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham.

Lujan Grisham had previously said in statements to other outlets that she supported an investigation into what went wrong, but spoke to NM Political Report on Tuesday while in a car in Washington D.C. on her way to a vote.

The Democrat from Albuquerque added “someone needs to be held accountable” for the shakeup that put many providers out of business. She said that even the transition after the state froze Medicaid funding for the 15 providers was not done well.

“We’ve spent two years with no relief in my opinion,” she said.

The state contracted with Arizona providers to provide behavioral health services. Lujan Grisham says they had “no history in New Mexico” and “no experience” dealing with the problems in the state.

On the federal level, she has been told there isn’t much that can be done, since investigations into Medicaid fraud are done on the state level. She wants that to change.

“Because I don’t think the feds have exercised their roles in oversight, I’m actually working on legislation that would increase what’s required of them in oversight,” she said.

She had more concerns with the federal response, saying the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, came to New Mexico twice; the first time, she thought that “they were disrespectful” so she had officials come out a second time.

“I was really disappointed when CMS declined to take any action after that meeting,” she said.

Still, she said she is pushing for federal action, including a meeting with the White House Chief of Staff.

Lujan Grisham said that the congressional delegation will also be sending another letter to the White House on the issue, looking for more investigation.

And they want to be kept in the loop on any possible investigation by the Attorney General.

U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich sent an email to supporters on Tuesday to sign onto a petition calling for an investigation, though the email does not say who should do the investigation.

The state Senate narrowly approved a bill Thursday that would require just about anyone buying a firearm to undergo a background check. This legislation has been a priority for gun control advocates, but all 16 Republicans and four Democrats in the Senate said it would not prevent the sort of mass shootings that have spurred calls for such laws.

Even in his final days of battling leukemia in early 2016, Jose Frietze was fighting for the youth services agency he founded in 1977. The state Human Services Department had accused the organization — Las Cruces-based Families and Youth Inc. — of potential Medicaid fraud and overbilling by $856,745 in 2013.

Years after the state cut off Medicaid funding to 15 behavioral health providers, citing “credible allegations of fraud,” the Attorney General cleared all providers of the alleged fraud. AG Hector Balderas made finishing the investigation into the providers a key goal when he entered office in 2015.

Even in his final days of battling leukemia in early 2016, Jose Frietze was fighting for the youth services agency he founded in 1977. The state Human Services Department had accused the organization — Las Cruces-based Families and Youth Inc. — of potential Medicaid fraud and overbilling by $856,745 in 2013.

Holtec International was in the news last month when the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission denied requests from some groups to hold an additional hearing over the company’s license to build an interim storage site in southeastern New Mexico to hold nuclear waste from commercial power plants.

Matthew Reichbach is the editor of the NM Political Report. The former founder and editor of the NM Telegram, Matthew was also a co-founder of New Mexico FBIHOP with his brother and one of the original hires at the groundbreaking website the New Mexico Independent. Matthew has covered events such as the Democratic National Convention and Netroots Nation and formerly published, “The Morning Word,” a daily political news summary for NM Telegram and the Santa Fe Reporter.
Matthew has appeared as a panelist for the Society of Professional Journalists’ New Mexico Chapter’s panel on covering New Mexico politics and the legislature.
A native New Mexican from Rio Rancho, Matthew’s family has been in New Mexico since the 1600s.